A term used to describe the action of authorities in exacerbating the conditions of an event intended to scare the population into not doing anything rash (like voting out politicians) because of a fear factor.

Weather authorities are predicting EXTREME and UNPRECEDENTED weather conditions today, with highs of over 43 degrees centigrade. (in actual fact the temperature never went past 36 degrees centigrade, so the authorities had been boiling the frog)